Whitman: “Prosecute illegal aliens..in all of our cities.”

GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman — who has in the past appeared to support federal funding for programs for the children of undocumented immigrants — said Wednesday that “we have to prosecute illegal aliens and criminal illegal aliens in all of our cities, in every part of California.”

Whitman made the comments about illegal immigration and the issue of sanctuary cities to reporters prior to an appearance at the Moscone Center.

Whitman was questioned on her comment this week on Neil Cavuto’s Fox TV show, regarding sanctuary cities. She told the Fox host that in San Francisco, “there is an ordinance on the books that protects illegal aliens and criminal illegal aliens. We have to stop that.”

Asked how as governor she would do that, Whitman said: “Of course, immigration law is a federal law..we need to work with the federal government to actually change those laws in San Francisco.”

“We have to prosecute illegal aliens and criminal illegal aliens in all of our cities, in every part of California ..which is consistent with federal immigration law.”

Whitman’s observations Wednesday come on the heels of a recent interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, in which she spoke about her support for federal spending for the children of undocumented immigrants. She said in that interview that “whether they’re legal or illegal, those benefits go to chldren. And we have to protect the children.”

Whitman’s campaign has been under fire recently from political bloggers like Calbuzz, whose Roberts & Trounstine have charged that the candidate has been largely unavailable for interivew to the state media during her gubernatorial campaign, and that she has failed to provide detailed answers to policy questions.

At Whitman’s press conference before her keynote address to the Professional Business Women of California at the Moscone Center Wednesday, she took just a handful of questions from three reporters before rushing off to deliver her speech.

Some excerpts:

*Asked about Govenor Schwarzenegger’s expressed support for studying the legalization of marijuana for tax purposes: “I am absolutely 100 percent not in favor of legalizing marijuana, for any reason..it is absolutely the wrong thing to do…there’s lots of other ways that we can solve this budget crisis.”

*Asked how she would make up the $16 billion in tax revenues if Prop. 1A, which she opposes, goes down: “If that happens, I will come out with a quite detailed plan. I’ve identified..I’ve said there is easily $15 billion of spending spending cuts that we can get in the state of California that will not, in fact, reduce services.” She added those cuts can also be done “largely by employing technology to pull this government into the 21st century,” though she provided no specifics on those matters.